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March 22, 2013
Rothstein Theatre sells out
Jerusalem-based writer Sayed Kashua’s visit here is a success.
CYNTHIA RAMSAY
On Saturday night, March 4, Arab Israeli writer Sayed Kashua – Haaretz columnist, author of three novels and creator/scriptwriter of the sitcom Arab Labor – sat down with the Globe and Mail’s Marsha Lederman at the Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre. A near-capacity crowd gave Kashua a standing ovation for his sometimes-critical, at-times humorous and always thoughtful remarks about his writing and his life in Israel. The author, who was in Vancouver promoting his most recent novel, Second Person Singular, sold almost every copy.
Kashua was brought here by the Cherie Smith JCCGV Jewish Book Festival, and the Jewish Independent was the event’s presenting sponsor, with the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver being a sponsor in part. Given the evening’s success – including a lively reception before the event and some politely asked hard questions from the crowd for the writer after he spoke – it was an auspicious first sponsorship of this kind for the paper. Hopefully, there will be another opportunity for the Independent to partner in this capacity again in the future.
An award-winning writer, Kashua’s novels – Dancing Arabs, Let it Be Morning and Second Person Singular – have all been translated into English, and are recommended reading, as are his weekly Haaretz columns, for anyone wanting to be entertained, but also challenged in their beliefs and wanting to learn more of what life is like for many Arab citizens of Israel. Kashua is also the subject of the documentary Forever Scared, which follows Kashua over a period of seven years, and can be purchased online.
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